Barcelona International Airport, also known as El Prat, is a major transport hub and fields flights from all over Europe. The airport is only about 14 km away from the city center. Airport transfers can be arranged for groups, taxis are available but expensive. A cheap and fast option is the half-hourly RENFE R2 Nord suburban train line calling at Sants (travel time is 18 min).
Barcelona International Airport, El Prat: IATA: BCN, ICAO: LEBL
Terminals
There are now two terminals, T1 and T2, the latter with A, B, and C subdivisions. T1 and T2 are linked by a bus shuttle (every 5-7 min, travel time 12 min).
T1, the newer terminal, hosts Iberia, Air Europa, Vueling and a variety of major international airlines, including Singapore Airlines, Qatar, Pakistan Intl., Emirates, Delta Air Lines, US Airways, American Airlines, Air Canada, Avianca, Aerolíneas Argentinas, Alitalia, CSA, SAS, TAP, Lufthansa, Austrian, Air France, KLM, British Airways, LOT, Tarom, etc
Sectors A, B and C of T2 are all within fairly easy walking distance of each other.
- T2 B is used by a large number of smaller carriers and low cost airlines.
- T2 C is smallest and hosts EasyJet.
- T2 A is now only for some charter flights.
Please be aware that you can check in for your flight only at the respective terminal T1 or T2 and, since they are 7 km apart and there is little information available at the train station and bus stops, it's good to know which terminal you need before arriving at the airport! AENA provides information about the allocation of airlines to terminals.
Transport from the Barcelona Airport to the city centre
The airport is only about 14 km away from the city center. Airport transfers can be arranged for groups, taxis are available but expensive (€20-30 to the city center). A cheap and fast option is the half-hourly RENFE R2 Nord suburban train line calling at Sants (travel time is 18 min), Passeig de Gràcia (24 min), El Clot-Aragó (30 min) and more stations beyond Barcelona city limits. Please be advised that this airport train has changed, and no longer terminates at Estació de França (it now goes through the centre of Barcelona and into the suburbs, so it is important to know at which station you should get off). The train terminates next to T2 by section B, with a connecting green coloured bus service to T1 (plan for an extra 15 min of travel). A single ticket for the train is €4.10 (April 2014), but you can also buy a T10 travelcard (€9.95 for ten trips over any period of time; each of those trips includes 3 bus, metro, train or tramway transfers made within 75 min) instead. You can buy a T10 from the ticket vending machine at the airport station and at the tobacco shop in front of Terminal 2B; you can buy a T10 travelcard at Terminal 1 in the tobacco shop just outside the arrival lounge exit.
Alternatively, the Aerobús is the city's shuttle bus service that connects the Airport (both terminals) with the centre of Barcelona (Plaça de Catalunya), leaving every 5-10 minutes (A1), every 10-20minutes (A2), every day of the year. The "A1" line takes you to/from Terminal 1 and the "A2" line takes you to/from Terminal 2. The shuttle bus service is available everyday from 5:30am to 1am, and the journey lasts about 30 minutes (although it can take considerably longer during rush hour). From the Airport, the shuttle bus makes a total of 4 stops: Plaça Espanya, Gran Via - Urgell, Plaça Universitat, and finally Plaça de Catalunya.
Aeropuerto de Barcelona-El Prat Map
Duty-free shops
Open from 6/6:30am to 9:30pm (few to 10pm). Shops are numerous and some are hard to find elsewhere in the city. Most shops are before the passport control; only one or two are afterwards.
Tax-free shopping refund. Office closes at 10pm without compromises. After that time checks can be only processed by mail: complete your tax-free forms with your passport data and addresses, stamp them with the custom office (a window next to arrivals gate door; they don't ask to see your purchases); put them into envelope you were given in the shop and wait for several months.
Cafes
Cafes, pre-security check. Limited options, sub-standard fare. Food at Ars is awful and not cheap. Pans & Company have almost no hot meals.
Cafes, post-security check. Numerous options, all close something between 10pm and 11pm.
Parking
Costs €1.35/hour, €9.45/day, €6.75/day from the 6th day.
Luggage lockers
Baggage storage is €4.60 per day for a large locker that easily fits 2-3 serious suitcases. Left-hand end of Terminal B, behind the Ars cafe.
Departure gates
For T2, poorly conditioned at ground level (at least gate #57, sector 2A, after 23:00). T1 is hyper-modern and comfortable.
WiFi
Available throughout the airport, operated by KubiWireless: €7.5 for 45min, €9 for 1 hour, €15 for 24 hours.
Low cost carriers operating to Barcelona
Air Berlin, Monarch Airlines, Jet2.com, ClickAir (a discount subsidiary of Iberia), Vueling, WIZZ Air, easyJet, Ryanair (only on nearby Girona and Reus airports), Blue Air, Sterling Airlines, flyGlobespan, Transavia among many others.
Nearby airports
Some low-cost carriers, notably Ryanair, use the airports in Girona, nearly 100km to the north, or Reus, around the same distance to the south, instead.
For Girona Airport: The Barcelona Bus service runs a shuttle bus from Estació del Nord in Barcelona to Girona Airport and this ties in with various flight times. A one-way ticket costs €12 and a return ticket costs €21. The journey takes approximately one hour and ten minutes.
For Reus airport, the easiest way is to take the train from Barcelona Sants station to Reus and then the local bus to the airport. The train costs €6.45 and then the bus costs €2. This takes roughly about an hour and a half.